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Fallout 3 modding FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Fallout 3 modding. Will an editor be available? At this time Bethesda has not confirmed whether an editor will be available for the PC version.Official Fallout 3 FAQ "Right now, we can’t say definitively 'there will be mod tools, and here is when they’ll be out'. That work remains to be done." Pete Hines On Fallout 3 Mods - Pete Hines, Bethesda, September 23rd, 2008. If there is an editor, what will it be like? If an editor is released, it will likely be similar to the ones for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which used an earlier version of the same engine. What file formats are used by Fallout 3? All graphics and audio files are stored within "BSA" archives in Fallout's "/data" folder. All other game data is stored in "fallout3.esm" which can only be edited in the eagerly anticipated Fallout 3 Construction Set. Graphics * 3D Models: NetImmerse/Gamebryo "NIF" files (version 20.2.0.7) * Textures: Direct Draw Surface "DDS" files (DXT1 format) Animation * Skeletal Animation: NetImmerse/Gamebryo "KF" files (version 20.2.0.7) * Lip Sync: Bethesda(?) "LIP" files (created with the Fallout 3 Construction Set) Audio * Speech: Ogg Vorbis "OGG" files (Mono, 44.1 kHz) * In-world 3D Effects: Waveform Audio Format "WAV" files (Mono, 22 kHz, 16 bit, PCM format) * Ambient Effects: Waveform Audio Format "WAV" files (Stereo, 22 kHz, 16 bit, PCM format) * Music and PipBoy radio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 "MP3" files (Stereo/Mono, 44.1 kHz, 192 kbps) * In-world 3D radio: Waveform Audio Format "WAV" files (Mono, 22 kHz, 16 bit, PCM format) How do I extract data from the BSA files? How to unpack BSA file format Where can I obtain mods? * No Mutants Allowed * PlanetFallout * Fallout3Nexus What about Performance Tweaks? Oblivion and Fallout 3 share the same engine, so tweaking the fallout.ini and falloutprefs.ini files are very similar to Oblivion.ini Examples of things to Change: Open up Fallout.ini(in "My Documents/My Games/Fallout 3") and search the document for "thread" Any setting that has "=0" after it and the word "thread" in the name, change it to "=1". This should make better use of Dual and Quad-core systems. Also, increase iNumHavokThreads to 5 or so. Making these changes can disrupt the communication between the CPU and graphics card, causing the game and computer to lock. Particularly when exiting straight from the game. A work around, is to exit to the main menu, then exit the game. * NOTE -- It has been reported that the above tweaks may actually decrease performance (as noted in the this thread on the same subject in Oblivion). * TIP: If you experience your system to hang upon exiting the game try settting "bMultiThreadAudio=" to "0". Also Change: ifpsclamp=0 -> ifpsclamp=60 This should help with mouse lag and stuttering. Please note, this should be only used as a last resort. It is preferable to simply lower the texture sizes to increase performance. What this option does is lock the frame rate to 60 frames per second. In this game there are brief sequences where the frame rate jumps to much higher than 60 frames per second. In practical terms, setting this option to 60 will slow down the time it takes to raise the pipboy 3000, it makes the reload time agonizingly slow and disrupts the VATS system. Supposition, it is likely when making this game the programmers animated these sequences with many frames. However each event, such as reloading, has a set time for it to occur in irrespective of lagging and frame rate. The tweak that has a lock on frames overrides this set time. Remember to back up any .ini files before you start "tweaking", and to experiment with each change to see what works best with your system. References Category:Fallout 3